A Greater Sorrow
by Alecksander
Summary: Sometimes life does not choose to follow the plan we had set. Harry had settled down, had a family. That is where he wanted life to take him... But life disagreed.


Author Note: This is a one-shot to go with my Darkness story. Any reviews would be great.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter and co., I'd be rich... Sadly... I have neither money nor characters...

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The snow filtered down through the sky like petals falling from a rose. Beauty could be found anywhere you looked. It could be found in the flower by the sidewalk or the smile on a persons face. Everything held beauty.There were many kinds as well. The beauty from within, that shone through a persons actions and words; the beauty of the spirit which gave a person warmth just to be in their presence; then, the beauty of the body, that attracted people from far away to just gaze at the wonder before them. She had had all of this and more.

A single tear slipped down an already wet cheek and fell to the floor of the chapel. Stained glass colors cast from a light outside fell on the ground around the person kneeling there, only reminding him of more pain than he would care to admit, more pain than he thought he was able to hold. His green eyes had seen such agony but they had started to heal. They had started to warm and gain a new life because of her inspirational beauty, but now... Now they were filled with sorrow beyond his endurance.

A choked sob fell from his lips and he tucked his head into himself, clenching his eyes shut and holding onto his own body to try and stop it from falling apart and shattering like so much broken-ness. His whole body ached and throbbed with every beat of his heart, making it impossible to think or forget.

Tremors ran through him as he slowly opened his eyes and stared forlornly at the wood beneath him. The red of the stained glass colors made his breath catch in his throat, strangling him with his anguish. If only he could go back.. If only he could have made her stay hidden and stay safe...He lifted his head to look up at the angel in the glass, his vision wavering.

* * *

"Harry? What are you doing?" The young bride appeared before her husband. Her striking red hair and deep brown eyes shown with happiness, courage, and strength. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking down at what her husband kept hidden from her view.

The man looked back and smiled, his eyes glittering with inner mirth. "Nothin' Gin. Just a little... surprise is all." His whole face and they way he sat fairly screamed 'innocence'.

Ginny rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You expect me to believe that?" A nod was the reply she was given. She laughed lightly and shook her head. " Fine then, keep your secrets, but your eldest is in the house trying to ride your broom in the kitchen." A smug look passed over her face.

Green eyes widened and shot back to their work. A few mumbled phrases and jerky movement hid whatever he was working on from sight before shooting into the house, his amused wife trailing behind.

Harry reached the scene first, coming through the doorway at a hurried speed, a flash going off as he entered. Seven year old James stood on a chair by the table. In his tiny hands was a broom and in the other was a small magical camera that belonged to his mother... Faced right towards his father. "Dad! Look! Mum gave me your broom to play with! Then she asked me to hold her camera and push a button when you came in. I did a good job, right daddy?"

Giggles escaped Ginny's lips as she tried to muffle them with her hand. Her eyes were closed tight and her other hand rested on her stomach, moving with every sound that came from her. Harry stepped towards his son and grabbed his broom and the camera. "You did a very good job Jamey... DO you want to do something for me now?" The little head bobbed up and down quickly in a affirmation. "Good, go into your mum's and I's room and grab the prettiest robe you can find in your mum's wardrobe and-" the rest was muffled as the red-haired woman had stopped laughing and looked at them in suspicion. The green-eyed man had lowered his voice in response, cupping his hand over his mouth and son's ear.

"Okay!" Little James jumped from the chair and shot from the room like a bullet.

The woman stalked forward, arms crossed and brow furrowed. "What did you tell him to do, Harry Potter?"

He grinned, and looked at her with doe eyes. "Nothing more than to give that gorgeous silk robe of yours a mud bath. This time, brown eyes widened and a look of terror passed over her face. A flash from the camera went off as Ginny raced from the room. "JAMES! DON'T TOUCH MUMMY'S ROBE!!"

Harry laughed and sat down on the chair his son had vacated. It was nice to have family.

* * *

"Ginny.." The word came out as little more than a whisper in the still church. Behind the name was a wealth of love, regret, and pain so great that it tore him to pieces. "Why?" A noise escaped him somewhere between a wail and a yell. "Why did you leave me?!" His face contorted into an angry visage as rage swept through him. "WHY?!" He screamed out to the heavens, uncomprehending of the greater plan and what her death played in it. Sitting now, in the church that was not far from their home, he did not understand.

Magic lashed out from his body in another angered scream, demolishing the pews and shattering the colored window into millions of broken parts. The bits flew through the air and fell out into the weather beyond their sanctuary and home. The angel fell apart as if the devil himself has struck her down.

Time froze as he stood and looked out the window onto the snow covered ground. The pieces of the angel lay scattered across the white like some symbol of destroyed innocence and grace. The tragic man left the chapel and came around to the broken window, kneeling in the snow. The angel's entire face was still intact as his lifted it from the ground, holding it in his hands.

Numb-ness started to flow through his veins as he looked down at the perfect, peaceful face, so much like his own angel... And he had caused the end to them both... If he had stayed by her side she would not have come venturing out to be by his. He should have stayed hidden with them and kept them safe and secure away from the horror of the world around them. Holding the angel's face in his hands, he fixed the window with a simple spell, inside wishing he could bring back his wife just as easily. The face though, of the pure being, he kept in his hands, silently promising to bring a new one to the church before apparating away.

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A graveyard spread out beneath his feet. Names were written on polished rocks, hoping never to be forgotten or left alone. Flowers from loved ones lay on turned earth, a message of their care and devotion to the memory of the ones buried below. Some were left empty, desolate among the rest. They had no one to care for them any longer, they were truly alone in this place, surrounded only by those that no longer remember.

Slow steps lead the hurting man through the dead. leading him to an angel that stood above three graves in the frozen ground. Three members of his family lay beneath that soil. The first in line, his daughter, Little Lily died on Halloween to an unknown poison. Next, James, strong and determined he had fallen by his father's side as they fought to bring Lily's killer to justice. Third, was Ginny, his beautiful, loving bride. She had come out into danger to be by her husband, to destroy what was destroying them from the inside out... But she had never made it. Found beaten and violated two weeks later, she had died alone.

Harry laid the angel's face against the marble with their names. He stared down at them, both wishing he could be there with them, and knowing he yet had a purpose to live. "Ginny..." Again, her named was whispered. He caressed the name written there before him. "I promise... I promise to protect him..." A tear trailed down his face again. "I promise to protect Albus with everything I am..." He shook his head and had to look away from the stone to gain his composer. "He wont join you in the ground, Gin... Not while I still draw breath..." New determination ran through his blood. One last tear fell from his chin and landed in the snow, melting it away in one, small spot.

Moments later, the graveyard was devoid of the living. A wind swept against the world and the angel face wavered before falling forward and cracking down the middle on the marble. The beautiful face fell apart, a single snowflake melted on its surface and trailed down her cool face.

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AN: Review?

-Alecksander


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